Wade was listening intently as Zane rambled on. He was pacing in front of the desk, repeating himself he was sure. But there wasn’t any way for him to hold back his feelings. There was a floodgate of information pouring out of him.

“What do you need from me?” Wade asked when Zane finally stopped talking.

“I don’t know where to start with her. I need to protect her. She said she’s had bad dreams. Had them all her life. What if it’s him? How do I know?”

“We do what we would with any True Mate. We guard them when you can’t. I’ll send a patrol over with a K-9 unit. Trevor is home with the twins, but Trent and Troy are still available. I know you can’t speak Rhui but the officer I send will be able to communicate.”

“Thank you. I’ve heard good things about them. They say they can tear a throat out in a blink.”

“I won’t deny that. But they’re very happy around the mates. I’d trust them over a lot of shiften.”

Zane nodded. “I’d appreciate it. I need to be near her but I don’t want to scare her or overwhelm her.”

“I’m no expert, but so far it seems that you may think that she’s unaware, but she’s not. She’s been looking for you too. Accept that and you will both be happier.”

“She did let me kiss her. That’s good, right?”

Wade smiled at him. He was an older man with silver in his hair and a relaxed attitude. He was one of the few shiften who hadn’t lost his mate in the tragedy. That might explain the lack of wrinkles. Yet Wade carried a heavy load on his shoulders being in charge of the KSRT that were hunting Khain. “As a mated wolfen, I’d say that’s a very good thing.”

Zane grunted. Yes, kissing was good.

“Conri found me a house closer to Poppy’s. I’m going to take my things over there.”

“I’ll arrange for some items to be delivered. Furniture and such to get you started. We have an overwhelming supply of hands right now. Might as well put them to good use.”

“I’d appreciate that. Can you make sure the detail stays back? I don’t want them to scare her.”

Wade nodded. “We can, but the sooner she knows she could be in danger the less likely it will be that she’ll take chances.”

“Understood.”

Zane shook Wade’s hand and thanked him for his support. He’d prefer if he was in Poppy’s home with her, but for now, closer was at least better than nothing.

* * *

Poppy was singing, well humming anyway. She didn’t have much of a voice, but that didn’t stop her. She was happy, euphoric even. She wanted to tell someone about Zane. Wanted to tell them why she liked him, what it was that made her desire his company. She could tell her mother, and she probably would when she got home. But she’d never had any close girlfriends to share with. Poppy had often asked her mother for a sister when she was younger. Someone to giggle with under the covers and pinkie promise to keep their secrets. Her mother had always said it wasn’t possible. That their futures had been planned and there was no altering them. Her mom was always full of vaguely cryptic answers, but she didn’t push for more.

There was no chance of telling her coworkers. They would frown on the breach of protocol. True, there could be a bit of a gray area but she didn’t want to overshare with them anyway. After Zane had left, she’d twirled around the kitchen while making herself a cup of tea. The smell of it reminded her of Zane and their first meeting.

After she was done she headed back out to the shed to change the bedding and tidy up. Not that the space needed much, but she wanted it fresh and clean for every client. As she was making her way to the backyard, she noticed a good-looking man walking down the opposite side of the street with two massive black dogs, each with a white patch on their shoulders. But they didn’t look like any kind of dogs she’d seen before.

The shock of seeing such massive beasts didn’t distract her from seeing that neither of them were on leashes. Even stranger, they seemed to be staring at her while they walked. The dogs were looking at her like she might be their next meal. It was silly to think that since they were obviously well trained. The man wasn’t looking her direction so she took some solace in that.

Although, with that thought it made her think of her shadow man. When Zane was there, those creeping, stomach-churning thoughts had disappeared. She wasn’t worried when Zane was there. Now that he was gone she felt vulnerable again. Poppy shook it off. “It’s just a dream silly!” she reminded herself. She turned her back on the man and the dogs and went into her shed.

Once inside, she stripped the futon and pulled clean sheets from the chest in the corner. She had almost finished the job when the door to the shed swung closed as though the wind had pushed it with a great gust. Unconcerned, she turned back to the bed but out of the corner of her eye she saw the flicker of a dark figure passing by the shed window. It wasn’t a person, but it had the shape of a person. It was like a shadow had passed over the window, just like in her dreams.

Poppy felt her heart start to pound. “It was just a dream, get a hold of yourself,” she hissed into the empty shed.

She wasn’t prone to hallucinations, at last not that she knew of. She’d never seen the vision from her dreams in real life. Just a fluttering behind her that could be easily explained by her eyes playing tricks on her. This time it wasn’t from the corner of her eye. She had been looking directly out the window and the shadowy figure had turned his head like it was looking right at her. If it had eyes that was.

Not needing to keep overreacting she went to the shed door and gave it a shove that should have sent it flying open.

It didn’t move. She tried again, pushing her whole palm against it and nothing. Starting to panic, she added her foot giving it a kick as she put her weight behind it. The door was closed, locked tight.

How? It wasn’t a self-latching door. It had a pin lock on the outside that took someone pushing the rod through and turning it.

“Don’t panic, Mom should be home soon.” Reaching for her phone in her back pocket, she dialed her mom and listened to it ring.

“This is Shelly, leave a message… how do I turn this thing off?”

She waited for the beep and left her mom a message. “Mom, I’m locked in the shed. Can you come let me out? I don’t want to spend the night in here. Thanks.”

Such a stupid message but better than going into full blown panic mode. It wasn’t like it was uncomfortable in there. She could use the time to contemplate life or the vagaries of the universe. This last thought was interrupted by a noise at the back of the shed. It was a crack followed by another louder crack.

Then the crack turned into a crackle.

It was the unmistakable sound of a fire catching. Wood starting to char and flames seeking fuel. She smelled smoke.

“Shit! What the hell?” Full panic mode was now more than necessary. She could try to bust out the window knowing there was no way she was getting that door open.

Looking around, she grabbed the small stool that held a vase of flowers knocking the flowers to the ground, the vase shattering at her feet. She swung it by the legs towards the window as hard as she could.

She shouldn’t have been surprised that it practically bounced off, causing the vibration to rattle through her hands.

There was smoke pouring through the holes in the eaves now, hot and coarse, filling the space of her beautiful sanctuary.

She couldn’t wait, she had seconds before things started to go bad, and so she swung the table again with all her might. The window didn’t budge.

Tears poured down her face as she coughed and went back to the door to beat on it with her hands.

“Help! Please somebody. Help me!” she yelled with every ounce of strength she had until she gasped and started coughing at the smoke. Pulling her shirt up over her face she continued to kick and punch at the door. The fire was getting hotter now and she turned to see a shimmering start over the paint on the back wall showing that the fire was just on the other side and about to break through.

The air was so thin now she was feeling woozy. She didn’t want to die in her happy place. That was too much. She wanted to die of old age, surrounded by grandchildren and commenting on teenagers and the strange way they dressed.